


If I Needed You

by CaryceJade



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Gen, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, Viruses suck, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 18:53:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10600077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaryceJade/pseuds/CaryceJade
Summary: When a bad virus hits Glanni in an isolated town, who can he depend on to help him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Title is taken from a Townes Van Zandt song. 
> 
> The desk clerk is modelled after my brother. He and both of my parents worked in motels, and let's just say that nothing really surprises any of them. 
> 
> This is probably going to become an entire AU, as I am currently unemployed and bored. Also, it's rattling around in my head enough to where I probably ought to be writing it.

Glanni knew that he was not functioning at his best when he planned this scheme. If the general tiredness and headache weren't a tip-off that he was starting to come down with something, the dizziness was.

He didn't know, truly, what he and Ithro were to each other. He had begun by just making it clear that Ithro was off-limits to other criminals, and Ithro had made it just as clear the he was off-limits to other heroes and law enforcement. It was a pretty successful arrangement. It had even resulted in them teaming up on occasion in order to prevent someone or something far worse from taking over or happening. From there, the teaming up had become a fairly regular thing, to the point that they trusted each other as far as they were capable. 

He sat down hard on the bed in the seedy motel room in a small town in East Tennessee. He hadn't even bothered to make absolutely certain of where he was, just parked the beat-up car he had bought just outside of Crossville, paid for the room, assured the desk clerk, a man in his mid-twenties with curly dark hair and glasses that was reading about World War I on the computer, though he switched screens to get him checked in, that he was alright, and taken his key to a room in the back. 

Lowering his head in his hands, he hoped that Ithro would realize that something was wrong and come check on him. 

Laying down, he pulled a pillow over his head, trying to shut out the ambient noise that was making his head pound. 

Eventually, he slipped into a fitful sleep. 

* * *

Ithro's crystal was flashing and thrumming. He paused in his flipping. It only both flashed and thrummed when Glanni was in trouble, even if it was something minor. 

He was unsure what exactly his relationship was with the criminal. (Though there was an actual full pardon waiting for him, due to the two of them working together in order to prevent several international incidents.) They chased each other as Glanni set up petty schemes that never actually hurt anybody, just inconvenienced some people that sorely needed inconveniencing, and Ithro dismantled them. 

Now, Ithro was trying to get a location on his friend/adversary. Concentrating on his crystal, he picked up a general location in the United States, then East Tennessee, then Gatlinburg.

Getting in his balloon, he aimed to get as close as he could, using magic on his balloon to get there in a couple of hours, instead of a couple of days. 

* * *

Glanni put on his coat, knowing that he needed to get some food and fluids before he got any sicker. It was a little past six in the morning, and the desk clerk was the same man as when he checked in. Getting directions to the nearest grocery store from him, as well as another look of concern from the young man, he drove to the store. 

It didn't take long to pick up some plain foods, and even some fruit, in case Ithro came, plus some water, lemon-lime soda, and a couple of sports drinks. He had the feeling that he was going to be feeling a lot worse before he felt better, judging by the way his head was pounding, so he didn't want to have to come back out if he didn't have to. 

Which was why he was surprised when he came back to the motel and saw a hot-air balloon in the back parking lot, and Ithro waiting. How had he found him so quickly? 

“Ithro?” he asked as he met him over by the car. 

“Yes, it's me,” he replied, laying a hand on Glanni's forehead, wincing at the heat that met his hand. “You're burning up!”

Glanni sighed, all pretenses dropped for the moment. “I feel awful,” he said. 

“Let's get you inside,” Ithro said, picking up some of the bags, “and in bed.”

Glanni nodded, a motion that made him dizzy. “How did you get here so quickly?”

“Knew you were in trouble, so I bent the rules a bit,” Ithro said, opening the door. Starting to put the stuff away as Glanni sat down on the bed, lowering his head into shaking hands, he asked, “Do you have stuff to change into? Those clothes have to be uncomfortable.” 

“Yeah,” Glanni replied, “over there.” He indicated to a bag outside the bathroom. 

Ithro went over to the bag, pulling out a pair of sleep pants and a long-sleeved shirt that he remembered having bought Glanni the last time he had gotten ill on one of their collaborations (that time, it had been poisoning, and Ithro had been scared to death). Ithro figured that Glanni must be feeling pretty awful to not offer any sort of smart remark at his question.

He brought the clothes over to Glanni. “I’m going to get changed too, then we’re going to try to sleep for a few hours. Hopefully, whatever you’ve got will be better when you wake up.”

Glanni nodded, slowly changing, but a wave of dizziness making Ithro stop and help him so that he wouldn't fall. 

Glanni fell asleep again with his head on Ithro's shoulder, hoping that he would feel better when he woke up. 

* * *

His eyes snapped open as a strong wave of nausea assaulted him. He was going to throw up. 

Throwing off the blankets, not responding to Ithro's startled query, he ran to the bathroom, falling to his knees in front of the toilet, just barely getting his head over the bowl before he was throwing up. 

He was vaguely aware of a hand on his back, then one on his forehead, keeping him over the basin as he threw up more than he ever remembered eating. He couldn't even remember the last time he had felt this bad. 

Finally, he stopped, gasping for air, the only thing keeping him from falling over being the gentle, sure hands that were supporting him. 

“Do you think you're finished for now?” Ithro asked. 

Glanni thought he might be. At least, he hoped he was. He nodded, closing his eyes. He felt Ithro wipe off his mouth, then reach over and flush the toilet. He just felt so horrible that he couldn't bring himself to be embarrassed. 

“Are you ready for me to help you back to bed?” Ithro asked in that same gentle tone. 

“Think so,” Glanni rasped. He then felt Ithro carefully guide him to his feet, then out to the room. 

As soon as he was back in bed, Ithro said, “I’ll be back in a second.” Glanni then heard the water running. A second later, he felt a cool, damp cloth on his forehead and eyes. “My eyes always hurt when I throw up that hard,” he said sympathetically, “and you definitely have a fever.”

He dozed back off to Ithro talking quietly. 

* * *

Voices. 

“Here, dear. I brought you a couple extra, just in case. And a few bags. There's a dumpster at the end of this section.”

“Thank you ma'am. I hate to put you to this trouble.”

“No trouble at all. He can't help being sick, poor thing. Johnny was even worried about him.”

“Was that the…”

He went back into a deeper sleep.

* * *

He came fully awake, aware that he was going to be sick again.

He just got sat up before he was retching into his hand, trying not to throw up all over himself, the floor, or the bed. 

“It's alright,” he heard Ithro say. “The bin is right in front of you.”

That's all it took. He felt Ithro supporting him as he retched violently into the bin. It took several tries before anything came up, but once it started, he could barely get a breath in between heaves. 

It was some time before he finally stopped, going limp in Ithro's arms. He felt him help him to lay back down, then a gentle hand running through his hair.

“I’m going to go clean this out,” Ithro said. “When I come back, I’ll try to get you to drink a little. I really don't want you getting dehydrated.”

Glanni rolled on his side, watching blearily as Ithro took out the bag, replacing it, then made the quick walk to the dumpster at the end of the block of rooms. He couldn't recall the last time that he had been this sick. Of course, he didn't really remember the time that he had gotten poisoned, managing to truly scare Ithro. Sure, he remembered a little, mostly Ithro just being there, but he thought he might have heard Ithro crying and perhaps even praying. He didn't really know. All he knew was that he couldn't recall Ithro leaving his side at all, and when he was finally aware of what world he was in, Ithro was asleep in a chair beside his bed. 

Ithro was back in only a couple of minutes. He went over and got one of the bottles of lemon-lime soda out of the refrigerator, opening it and bringing it over. Setting it down on the nightstand, he helped Glanni to sit up. Gently, but insistently, he coaxed him into taking in a couple of ounces, then set the bottle back on the nightstand. 

“Try to get some more sleep,” he said softly. “Maybe you’ll feel a little better when you wake up again.”

Glanni fell asleep to Ithro running his hand gently through his hair, humming softly, if somewhat tunelessly. If Glanni had been more alert, and felt up to it, he perhaps might have asked what exactly he and Ithro were to each other. He knew that they were perhaps more than friends, less than a couple, but his brain was too addled at the moment to ask any sort of a coherent question. 

Maybe Ithro was right. Maybe he would feel better when he woke up again.

* * *

Ithro was wrong. Very wrong. 

Glanni retched over the bin for the third time that day. He didn't think that it was possible to feel this bad and still be alive. 

Ithro was the only thing that made it somewhat bearable. His calm steadiness and being unflappable were reassuring. Even when Glanni had thrown up on his shirt because he wasn't fast enough with the bin, he had remained calm and steady, just helping Glanni to get over the bin in time for the next wave. He had then went and changed shirts, all with a calm steadiness. 

He had tried to apologise, but Ithro had waved it off, saying that he couldn't help being sick, and that it was okay. He then returned with the clean bin, setting it by the bed. He then carded his hand through Glanni's hair until he fell asleep. 

(Glanni would have to be a lot sicker than this to admit out loud that he liked it.)

* * *

Ithro was, despite appearances, not calm at all. He just did not want to upset Glanni by freaking out. 

It made his heart clench painfully to see his enemy-becone-ally in this much pain. It brought back too many terrible memories of when he had been poisoned. He had nearly died then, had Ithro not found and administered the antidote in time. 

He was not ashamed to admit that he had cried, sobbed even, demanding that Glanni hold on. 

He had even prayed to a God that he wasn't sure he believed in….

While this was apparently no more than a very bad stomach virus, Glanni was still miserable, Ithro reflected, carding a hand through Glanni's hair.

They also needed to talk about what they were to each other, he realised. They had hit that grey area of more than friends, not quite a couple, and neither being sure of what to do next. 

That could wait, though, Ithro decided, pushing the matter aside for contemplation at another time. 

* * *

Ithro wandered over to the lobby at about midnight. Seeing the same young man that was there early that, well, yesterday morning, he asked, “May I…”

“...have some more bags? Sure.” He got a roll out and pulled several off, handing them to Ithro. “Your friend still sick?”

“How did you?”

“Faye told me that he was definitely sick, and he did look pretty rough when I checked him in.”

“He doesn’t get sick very often…”

“...but when he does, it’s bad?”

Ithro nodded. “I can't thank you enough for helping us out like this.”

The young man made a dismissive gesture with his hand, cheeks flushing. “It’s no big deal. Just be sure your ride's tied down good. I’d hate to try to explain it to the cops.”

Ithro grinned. “It’s tied down. I hate having to catch it when I need to go somewhere.”

The young man let out a bark of laughter that buoyed Ithro's spirits.

* * *

Glanni dozed with his head pillowed on Ithro's thigh as he stroked his hair, humming tunelessly. While his fever had went down some, he still wasn't doing that great yet. 

Watching his friend’s eyes move under closed lids, Ithro wondered what Glanni dreamed about. 

The hints that it was not good were there. A crease between the eyebrows, a frown, a moan. When he started whimpering, Ithro shook his shoulder. “Wake up, Glanni,” he said. “Come on, wake up for me.”

It took several tries before Glanni woke up, then he took one look at Ithro, and burst into tears. 

Ithro just held him, rocking him slightly, until the tears died down. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked softly. 

Glanni sighed. “Not now.” He then lunged for the bin. He hung over it with Ithro rubbing his back, hiccuping miserably. 

Ithro couldn't suppress a wince as Glanni started retching painfully into the bin, finally bringing up some acid, bile, and fluids. 

“I am so tired of this,” he said hoarsely when he stopped long enough to speak. 

“I don't blame you,”Ithro replied, helping Glanni to lay back down on the bed. He then went to go clean the bin again, feeling a slight dizziness as he stood up.

Chalking it up to being tired, he finished the task, then laid down beside Glanni, falling asleep in minutes. 

* * *

The next time Glanni woke up, he felt a little better. Not anywhere near exactly well yet, but no longer so sick and dizzy that he would throw up if he tried to move. 

Looking over, he saw that Ithro was asleep next to him. He was glad that Ithro had come, since being as sick as he had been alone (and he knew this from experience) was beyond horrible. 

Then Ithro woke up and made a dash for the bathroom. 

Wincing in empathy, Glanni got up and followed him. The conversation they needed to have would have to wait. 

**Author's Note:**

> Poor Ithro... 
> 
> ...will they ever have that conversation?


End file.
